Journal box lubricating pad construction



March 8, 1966 M. NEWMAN 3,239,293

JOURNAL BOX LUBRICATING PAD CONSTRUCTION Filed April 16, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR M l LTOH NEWMHH BY {gawk ATTO R NEY March 8, 1966 M. NEWMAN 3,239,293

JOURNAL BOX IJUBRICATING PAD CONSTRUCTION Filed April 16, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v 'A x a INVENTOR MILTON NEWMHN' BY yam ATTORNEY March 8, 1966 M. NEWMAN JOURNAL BOX LUBRICATING PAD CONSTRUCTION Filed April 16, 1965 4 sheets-sheets Arrow/5X March 8, 1966 M. NEWMAN JOURNAL BOX LUBRICATING PAD CONSTRUCTION Filed April 16, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 hid 1001. MILTON NENVIHN United States Patent 3,239,293 .IUURNAL BOX LUBRICATING PAID CONSTRUCTION Milton Newman, 6211 N. 11th St., Philadelphia, Pa. Filed Apr. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 448,693 12 Claims. (Cl. 308-443) This invention relates generally to journal box lubricating pad constructions and more particularly to a lubricating pad construction which is more economical to manufacture than constructions heretofore known because of a saving of material and a saving in fabrication time, while at the same time resulting in a more accurately made and uniform lubricator pad, this application being a continuation-in-part of my pending application, Serial No. 323,954, filed November 15, 1963, now abandoned.

In the past, lubricating pads have been known which were formed of chennille fabrics which provide a good wickin-g action. However, the fabric from which such lubricating pads are made is of a uniform nature wherein the fab-ric includes a backing portion from which extend in one direction and with a substantially uniform density the loops or tufts which form the pile of the fabric. This uniform coverage of the backing renders it very difiicult to stitch the fabric because of the relatively large bulk through which the stitching machine needle must pass. Moreover, since the lubricating pads are made with pockets within which resilient cores are subsequently disposed, it has been diflicult to maintain accurately the size of the core receiving pockets because of the difficulty in establishing any accurate stitching guide means due to the uniformity of the fab-ric. Also, the presently used fabrics of this type are so formed that the pile extends substantially completely to the edges of the backing and as a consequence it is also difficult to edge stitch when forming the resilient core receiving pocket.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a novel journal box lubricating pad construction wherein the pad is made of a loop pile fabric in which the pile extends from its backing in selected regions thereof, the backing being free of pile in other regions so as to facilitate stitching of the fabric.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel journal box lubricating pad construction as aforesaid wherein the pile free regions of the fabric from which the pad is constructed not only facilitate the secure and rapid stitching or other securement of layers of the fabric to one another but also provide clear and accurate visual guide lines which facilitate the quick and accurate positioning of fabric layers relatively to one another and the subsequent securement thereof along the desired line.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a pad formed of a pair of warp-knitted pile fabrics which are respectively adapted to be folded upon themselves and then secured together in back-to-back relation to provide a plurality of pockets for receiving cores of resilient oilpenetrable material, the core-filled pockets being symmetrically arranged with reference to a hinge line extending parallel to and in the vertical plane of the axis of the journal to be lubricated whereby the core-filled pockets of the lubricator are angularly displaceable to snugly conform to the contours of the journal box in which the lubricator is confined.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a journal box lubricator wherein each of the fabrics secured together in back-to-back relation as described in the foregoing paragraph have their folded-over sections additionally stitched together along lines paralleling said central hinge line to form in each section a pair of core-receiving pockets which are angularly displaceable about said lines of stitching whereby the lubricator, as a whole, may

assume an arcuate or other transversely curved shape in conformity with the shape of the journal box for snug fit about the lower portion of the journal axle.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel lubricating pad construction as aforesaid which by virtue of the pile free regions effects a considerable saving in the cost of yarn, substantially reduces the fabrication time of the pad and results in a more accurately made and uniform construction.

Still another and important object of the invention is to provide an oil lubricating pad formed of a pair of warpknitted pile fabric panels which are respectively doubled upon themselves to provide bight portions which are stitched together in back-to-back relation, the arrangement being such as to permit the pair of fabrics to be initially stitched together along the bight-forming portions thereof with the pile of the fabrics facing inwardly and toward each other so that said pile does not interfere with or make difficult the operation of initially stitching the pile fabrics together.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become clear from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with an examination of the appended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a plan view of a piece of the novel pile fabric according to the invention illustrating the looped pile and pile free regions of the backing portion of the fabric, the illustrated configuration being suitable for the formation of a particular type of lubricating pad;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic plan view on a reduced scale of a continuously formed web of the loop pile fabric illustrated in FIGURE 1, a portion of the web corresponding to the showing of FIGURE 1 being designated as lying between an adjacent pair of the parallel phantom lines;

FIGURES 3 through 8 illustrate the consecutive steps in the formation of a complete lubricating pad construction utilizing a pair of fabric pieces of the form shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 9, 10 and 11 illustrate steps in the formation of a pad similar to that illustrated in FIGURE 8 but in which the initial step is carried out by riveting or eyeletting in lieu of stitching;

FIGURE 12 illustrates a modification of the pad construction of FIGURES 3 through 5 in that while the upper piece of fabric is the same as that shown in FIG- URE 3, the lower piece has no loop free central region;

FIGURE 13 is a diagrammatic showing of a vertical sectional view through a journal box illustrating one of the two-section lubricating pads in operative position within the box, some parts being shown in section and others in elevation;

FIGURE 14 is a plan View of a warp-knitted pile fabric panel adapted for use in the construction of a lubricating pad having four pockets for receiving therein the resilient oil storage bodies or cores;

FIGURES 15 to 20 illustrate the several consecutive steps followed in constructing the four-pocketed oil lubricating pad utilizing a pair of the warp-knitted pile fabric panels shown in plan in FIGURE 14;

FIGURE 21 is a perspective view of the four-pocketed lubricating pad in its completed form; and

FIGURE 22 is a view similar to FIGURE 13 but showing therein a journal box fitted with the pad of FIGURE 21.

In the several figures, like elements are denoted by like reference characters.

Referring first to FIGURES l and 2 there is observed a pile fabric of the warp knit type which may be produced in continuous running length or web 40 by utilizing a warp knitting machine of the type shown and described in United States Patent No. 2,748,495 suitably modified to provide the illustrated pattern of loop pile regions 41 drawn out of the warp stitches of the fabric backing designated generally as 42. The manner of forming the loops and the backing of such fabric is clearly illustrated in my previously issued United States Patent No. 2,435,897. The fabric 40 as produced by the warp knitting machine is formed with selvaged and loop free longitudinally extending side marginal edges 43, and transversely extending loop free regions 44 spaced at regularly occurring intervals longitudinally of the web 40 to thereby define with the selvaged margins 43 the loop pile regions 41. Alternate ones of the transversely extending loop free regions 44 are medially severed transversely to the web 40 to form fabric pieces each having two loop pile regions 41 bounded by selvaged marginal edges 43 and transversely extending loop free regions 44a and 44b.

FIGURES 3 through 8 illustrate the method of making a lubricating pad from two fabric pieces of the kind illustrated in FIGURE 1, the two pieces being designated in FIGURES 3 through 8 as 45 and 46. The first step is illustrated in FIGURE 3 which shows the superposition of the fabric piece 45 over an identical mating fabric piece 46 with the pile side of the two pieces facing one another so that the loop free transversely extending central regions 44b of the pieces overlie one another. These two pieces are then stitched together, as shown in FIGURE 4, by one or more rows of stitching 47 which extend completely from one selvaged edge 43 to the other selvaged edge transversely of the length of the loop free regions 44b and close to the edges of the adjacent loop pile regions 41. Next, as shown in FIGURE 5, each of the sections or pieces 45 and 46 is folded upon itself so that the pile surfaces thereof present outwardly of the folded sections. The two sections are thus secured together in back-to-back relation by the rows of stitching 47, whereupon the loopfree edges 44a of each of the pieces 45 and 46 are brought into registry and stitched securely to one another as by means of the stitching 48.

The resulting double pocket structure illustrated in FIGURE then has one end of each pocket closed in the manner shown in FIGURE 6 by sewing together the selvaged side marginal edges 43 of each of the doubledover pieces by means of a row of stitching 49. As seen in FIGURE 7, a pair of cores 50 of foam rubber or other suitable resilient material capable of receiving and storing oil which is fed by wicking action to the pile fabric sheathing are inserted into the pockets formed by the previous stitching of the fabric pieces 45 and 46, and the lubricating pad is then finished by closing the open selvaged ends through which the cores were inserted as by means of a row of stitching 51. A suitably looped tape 52, which serves as a handle for removing the lubricating pad from a journal box in which it has been inserted, is attached at some convenient point to the pad during the fabrication thereof, as for example, by serving it into the pad immediately after or during the process of applying the rows of stitching 47 shown in FIGURE 4.

It will be observed that in producing the lubricating pad of FIGURE 8 as above described, the two warpknitted pile fabrics of which it is formed are initially arranged, as shown in FIGURE 4 (and also in FIGURE 9), with their pile surfaces in face to face contact and with their plain back surfaces exposed. By so relatively disposing the panels, the operation of feeding them through the machine for stitching or riveting them together along the lines 47 of the stitches shown in FIGURE 4 or along the line of rivets 53 shown in FIGURE 9 is greatly facilitated, since the pile loops are contained between the fabrics being secured together and so cannot become entangled in the stitching or riveting head of the machine through which the fabrics are fed.

FIGURE 13 illustrates in diagrammatic form a journal box 55 within which is enclosed a bearing 56 supported on a rotatable shaft 57. Disposed within the journal box in the bottom region thereof which contains the lubricant, such as oil, is illustrated the two section lubricating pad 58 of the construction above described, it being noted that the two sections of the pad are angularly disposed relatively to one another about their central hinge line to thereby conform the pad to the contour of the journal box in which it is fitted and insure proper engagement with the undersurface of the shaft 57 to which lubricant is supplied by the pad as the shaft rotates.

FIGURES 14 to 21 illustrate a modified construction of lubricating pad having four core-filled pockets which are respectively hinged together by parallel extending lines of stitches whereby the pad, designated in FIGURE 22, may be transversely curved into shape, as illustrated in FIGURE 22, to conform to the contour of the space between the rounded bottom of the journal box 55 and the under surface of the rotating axle 57 journalled in the box.

As in the case of the two-section pad 58 shown in FIG- URES 8, 11 and 13, the four-section pad 60 is also formed of two panels of warp-knitted pile fabric each generally of the form shown in FIGURE 14 wherein it will be observed that each panel 61 includes four areas of pile fabric which are respectively marginally bounded by areas free of pile. Preferably, but not necessarily, the two inner areas 62-6-2 of pile fabric are of somewhat greater width than the two outermost areas 6363 of pile fabric. All of said pile regions are of the same length and are so relatively disposed that when the panel 61 is folded upon itself about a line extending centrally between and parallel to the lengths of the inner pile regions 6262, said inner regions 62-62 are brought into exact registry with one another while the outer pile regions 63-63 likewise register one with the other.

The two panels 61-61 are initially disposed with their several pile regions in face to face corresponding registry as shown in FIGURE 15 and have applied thereto as shown a handle-forming tape 64 which is preferably secured to the superimposed panels by the same line 65 of stitches which secures the two panels together, as most clearly shown in FIGURE 16. The tape 64 extends beyond one free edge of the panel assembly and is looped as shown to provide a pull tab or handle for withdrawing the finished pad from within the journal box in which it was fitted.

After the panels 61-61 have been centrally stitched or otherwise secured together along the line 65, the procedure followed in completing the pad is generally the same as that employed in the case of the two-section pad as hereinbefore described, the only additional operation being that of stitching the panels together along the lines 66-66 (see FIGURE 17) to form the outermost pockets of the four-section pad.

Of course these additional lines of stitching 6666 extend along the pile-free regions between the pile areas and are made after the panels 61-61 have been respectively doubled upon themselves to present their pile regions facing outwardly as shown in FIGURE 17, in which condition of the panels their central pile-free bight portions are secured together in back-to-back relation by the line or lines 65 of stitching.

Thereafter, the pile-free marginal edges of the doubledover panels 6161 are stitched together by the lines of stitching 67-67 and 6868 to provide core-receiving pockets which are each closed on all sides except for one open end through which a core 69 may be inserted, as illustrated in FIGURE 20. Upon inserting the several resilient cores 69 in their respective open-ended pockets formed in the pad, the open ends of the pockets are closed by stitching together as by the lines of stitching 70, the corresponding pile-free selvaged edges of the pad fabric to produce the completed four-core pad shown in FIGURE 21.

Although in the pad as shown completed in FIGURE 21, the two outermost sections are of smaller transverse cross-sectional area than the inner pair of sections, it will be understood that the pad may be formed with all of its pockets of the same size so as to provide uniformly sized core-filled sections, or it may be formed to provide it with inner core-filled sections of smaller cross-sectional size than the outer core-filled sections.

In all arrangements, however, just as in the case of the two-section core, the several core-filled sections are joined together by lines of stitching which serve effectively as hinge lines about which adjoining sections of the pad may be angularly related as desired and to provide a high degree of flexibility of the pad transversely thereof so that it may readily conform to the shape of the journal box recess in which it is to be fitted and properly engage the under surface of the journalled axle for most efiicient delivery of lubricant thereto from the pad. In this connection, it will be noted that the pad is so constructed that when inserted into the journal box for lubrication of the rotating shaft journalled therein, the several sections of the pad, be it of the two core construction or of the four core construction, are symmetrically disposed with reference to the vertical plane of the shaft axis so that the pad may be positioned within the journal box with either of its main transversely extending pile surfaces in engagement with the shaft.

Having now described by invention in connection with particularly illustrated embodiments thereof it will be understood that variations and modifications of the same may now occur from time to time to those persons normally skilled in the art without departing from the essential scope or spirit of my invention, and accordingly it is intended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A lubricator for a railroad car journal box adapted for disposition between the undersurface of a car axle journal and the floor of a journal box into which the car axle journal extends, said lubricator being designed to feed oil upwardly from the journal box floor to the car axle journal and comprising a pair of elongated oil distributing bodies joined together in juxtaposed relation and respectively disposable symmetrically with reference to the longitudinally extending vertical median plane of the journal box and in parallel relation to the axis of the journal therein, each said body including an internal resilient pre-formed core of compressible material and a flexible sheathing therefor of warp-knitted pile fabric having limited areas of pile-forming loops extending freely from its exposed surface, said sheathings being each folded upon itself and wrapped about its internal core to provide a pair of coextensive panel sections having overlapping marginal edge portions at the opposite ends and outer side of each core and a central joining or bight portion covering the inner side of the core, said overlapping edge portions of each sheathing and the bight portion of at least one sheathing being free of said pile-forming loops, said oil distributing bodies being disposable with said bight portions of their sheathings arranged in back-to-back relation substantially in said vertical median plane of the journal box, and means for hingedly securing said bight portions together along a hinge line extending parallel to the journal axis and disposed substantially midway between the surf-aces of the lubricator for contacting the axle journal and the floor of the journal box whereby said oil distributing bodies are relatively angularly displaceable to snugly conform to the arcuate contours of the journal box in which the lubricator is confined.

2. A lubricator as defined in claim 1 wherein only the pile-free overlapping edges of said coextensive panel sections of the core sheathings are stitched together to secure the cores within their respective sheathings.

3. A lubricator as defined in claim 1 wherein the backto-back hingedly secured bight portions of the core sheathings are both free of pile.

4. A lubricator as defined in claim 1 wherein the said pair of core-sheathings are hinged together in back-toback relation as aforesaid by stitching extending longitudinally from end to end of the lubricator in spaced parallel relation to the top and bottom planar surfaces thereof.

5. A journal lubricating pad comprising a pair of warpknitted pile fabrics each having a backing and an external facing of pile confined within laterally spaced regions bounded by pile-free regions extending marginally about the full perimetral extent of each pile region, said fabrics being each folded upon itself and marginally secured to form an elongated pocket having external top and bottom pile facings, a resilient core of compressible material enclosed within each said pocket, and means for hingedly securing together said core-filled pockets in back-to-back relation along a line extending longitudinally of the pad substantially midway between the top and bottom planar surfaces thereof whereby said core-filled pockets are angularly displaceable relatively to each other about said hinge line.

6. A lubricator for a railroad car journal box adapted for disposition between the undersurface of a car axle journal and the floor of a journal box into which the car axle journal extends, said lubricator being designed to feed oil upwardly from the journal box floor to the car axle journal and comprising a pair of elongated oil distributing bodies joined together in juxtaposed relation and respectively disposable symmetrically with reference to the longitudinally extending vertical median plane of the journal box and in parallel relation to the axis of the journal therein, each said body including an internal resilient core of compressible material and a flexible sheathing therefor of warp-knitted pile fabric, said sheathings each having reversely turned coextensive panel portions joined together by an intermediate bight portion and being wrapped about its internal core to provide overlapping edges in registry with one another at the opposite ends and outer side of each core, said oil distributing bodies being disposable with said bight portions of their sheathings arranged in back-to-back relation substantially in said vertical median plane of the journal box, and means for hingedly securing said bight portions together along a hinge line extending parallel to the journal axis and disposed substantially midway between the surfaces of the lubricator for contacting the axle journal and the floor of the journal box whereby said oil distributing bodies are relatively angularly displaceable to snugly conform to the arcuate contours of the journal box in which the lubricator is confined, said reversely turned coextensive panel portions of the sheathing having formed upon their exposed surfaces pile-forming loops extending freely from said warp-knitted fabric in limited areas thereof which extend to but do not encompass any of the overlapping edges of the sheathing.

7. A journal lubricating pad as defined in claim 5 wherein each of said fabrics is centrally divided into two symmetrical portions having correspondingly spaced facings of pile, the pile facings of one portion of the fabric being respectively coextensive in area with and disposed respectively in registry with those of the other portion of said fabric and wherein said two portions of each fabric are secured together along a line spaced outwardly from and extending parallel to said hinge line whereby each fabric forms a pair of pile-faced pockets for respectively accommodating therein a pair of said cores of compressible material.

8. A journal lubricating pad as defined in claim 5 wherein said core-filled pockets are of symmetrical formation with reference to the orthogonally related median planes of the pad extending through said hinge line whereby the pad may be reversed top for bottom in use thereof.

9. A lubricating pad as defined in claim 6 wherein the same is provided with a plurality of said sheathed oil distributing bodies upon each side of said central hinge line and wherein each of said plural bodies is angularly adjustable relatively to its adjoining body about a hinge line paralleling the aforesaid central hinge line of the pad.

10. A lubricating pad as defined in claim 9 wherein said plural bodies arranged to either side of said central hinge line are of different transverse cross-sectional size.

11. A lubricating pad as defined in claim 6 wherein said pad is provided with four of said oil distributing bodies all hingedly jointed together in juxtaposed relation, and disposed symmetrically with reference to the vertical and horizontal median planes of the pad in its flattened out condition.

12. A lubricating pad as defined in claim 6 wherein said pad is provided with four of said oil distributing bodies all hingedly joined together in juxtaposed relation, and disposed symmetrically with reference to the vertical and horizontal median planes of the pad in its flattened out condition, and wherein the innermost pair of said bodies are of larger size in transverse section than the outermost pair thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

15 FRANK SUSKO, Examiner. 

1. A LUBRICATOR FOR A RAILROAD CAR JOURNAL BOX ADAPTED FOR DISPOSITION BETWEEN THE UNDERSURFACE OF A CAR AXLE JOURNAL AND THE FLOOR OF A JOURNAL BOX INTO WHICH THE CAR AXLE JOURNAL EXTENDS, SAID LUBRICATOR BEING DESIGNED TO FEED OIL UPWARDLY FROM THE JOURNAL BOX FLOOR TO THE CAR AXLE JOURNAL AND COMPRISING A PAIR OF ELONGATED OIL DISTRIBUTING BODIES JOINED TOGETHER IN JUXTAPOSED RELATION AND RESPECTIVELY DISPOSABLE SYMMETRICALLY WITH REFERENCE TO THE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING VERTICAL MEDIAN PLANE OF THE JOURNAL BOX AND IN PARALLEL RELATION TO THE AXIS OF THE JOURNAL THEREIN, EACH SAID BODY INCLUDING AN INTERNAL RESILIENT PRE-FORMED CORE OF COMPRESSIBLE MATERIAL AND A FLEXIBLE SHEATING THEREFOR OF WARP-KNITTED PILE FABRIC HAVING LIMITED AREAS OF PILE-FORMING LOOPS EXTENDING FREELY FROM ITS EXPOSED SURFACE, SAID SHEATHINGS BEING EACH FOLDED UPON ITSELF AND WRAPPED ABOUT ITS INTERNAL CORE TO PROVIDE A PAIR OF COEXTENSIVE PANEL SECTIONS HAVING OVERLAPPING MARGINAL EDGE PORTIONS AT THE OPPOSITE ENDS AND OUTER SIDE OF EACH CORE AND A CENTRAL JOINING OR BIGHT PORTION COVERING THE INNER SIDE OF THE CORE, SAID OVERLAPPING EDGE PORTIONS OF EACH SHEATHING AND THE BIGHT PORTION OF AT LEAST ONE SHEATHING BEING FREE OF SAID PILE-FORMING LOOPS, SAID OIL DISTRIBUTING BODIES BEING DISPOSABLE WITH SAID BIGHT PORTIONS OF THEIR SHEATHING ARRANGED IN BACK-TO-BACK RELATION SUBSTANTIALLY IN SAID VERTICAL MEDIAN PLANE OF THE JOURNAL BOX, AND MEANS FOR HINGEDLY SECURING SAID BIGHT PORTIONS TOGETHER ALONG A HINGE LINE EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE JOURNAL AXIS AND DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY MIDWAY BETWEEN THE SURFACES OF THE LUBRICATOR FOR CONTACTING THE AXLE JOURNAL AND THE FLOOR OF THE JOURNAL BOX WHEREBY SAID OIL DISTRIBUTING BODIES ARE RELATIVELY ANGULARLY DISPLACEABLE TO SNUGLY CONFORM TO THE ARCUATE CONTOURS OF THE JOURNAL BOX IN WHICH THE LUBRICATOR IS CONFINED. 